Pete, Maz and all that Jazz: Ptuj - not ready for prime time

In Italy, although we had no Italian language skills between us, we muddled along quite readily with a small Italian-English/English-Italian dictionary. In Slovenia and other Slavic countries this simple ruse did not work since, even if the appropriate word or phrase was found, pronouncing it was quite another matter. A case on point. Our route through Slovenia passed near Ptuj and we planned to stay there overnight. Although the campsite manager at Ljubljana spoke excellent English, we could not make our intention clear with our pronunciation of Ptuj, and finally had to point to it on a map. "Oh, 2-e" said the manager and proceeded to tell us all about Ptuj. The P is apparently silent and the J sounds like a Y making Ptuj rhyme with Dewey. We remained quite

content to blunder on with hand signs and grunts.
With a population of about 11,000, Ptuj seems determined to get onto the tourist bandwagon to help energize its economy. Unfortunately, despite the ubiquitous castle on the hill, the fashionable walled city bit and the River Drava, it just does not appear to have the critical mass to ever hit the big-time. In its present, partially rebuilt condition, it is rife with building and refurbishment projects making getting about quite difficult, but still has numerous streets and alleys in

sadly dilapidated condition. The "Town Tower", mentioned in the 14th century, is a central feature but even it is shorter than it was prior to its collapse in a fire in 1705. The castle too, has an air of uncertainty as it wavers between majoring as a weapons museum and a showplace of culinary arts replete with outrageously expensive samples. Nonetheless, we had an enjoyable day poking about town, visiting the castle and various adventures in parking.